Bits & Pieces
by Awkward Bananas
Summary: Max's heart is in pieces. Angel is gone, her ex has left her for the third time, and nothing feels right to her as she finally realizes that she's still hopelessly in love with Fang, someone who she doesn't even think loves her anymore. FAX! FAX! EGGY!
1. A Torn Heart

**ANGEL = Stupidest book ever. You may not agree. But still.**

**Here's a little something that comes after. Just to cheer US FANGirls up. Yes, I still love him. Yes, I hate Dylan with a passion, too.**

_1._

After a few weeks, things were almost back to normal. Let me correct that - things would never get back to _normal_, but we were in overall better condition than we were in before...disaster had struck.

I thought I would be relieved after Fang left - I thought I'd have less of a distraction with him and his flock around. I thought I'd have some time to cool off and sit for a while by myself in my room and sing in my tuneless voice or write depressing poetry.

But I was wrong. Depression over took me so strongly, I could barely stand up at times. The fact that Fang had left me _again_, for the second - no - THIRD time was enough to make me puke. Dylan being there didn't help either...I only kept thinking back to the time we'd kissed in Paris and how right it had felt to me. Now when I thought about it again, it didn't feel right at all. It just felt like I was betraying someone I still loved.

How much ever I hated to admit it.

"DINNER," Iggy called from the kitchen. I heard the busy hustle of the rest of the flock and Dylan going downstairs to sit at the table. I wasn't ready to count Dylan as part of the flock yet. In fact, in the past week, I'd felt like he was trying to edge his way in to something that he didn't deserve to be in.

I also felt a little like I'd just _used _him. Used him to make myself feel better, to patch up my heart a little bit after all the drama went on with Fang. It had been two months since I'd lost my little Angel, my baby who I'd raised so lovingly. Every night I remembered her large, fearless eyes, and I cried myself to sleep. Some nights I remembered Fang's usually bottomless eyes, filled with emotion after he found out about Angel. I cried even harder if I thought about that.

Ella was back. She'd come back from the School with wings, but none of us were too happy because she wasn't herself. It wasn't the happy, cheerful and in-love-with-Iggy Ella that had come back to us; it was the stuck-up, conceited, bratty, and unimpressed Ella that was living with us now. Her bad side, which used to only appear at certain times, had now become her personality. But Ella didn't bother me too much these days, it was mostly thoughts about Angel and Fang that occupied my sorry head.

I missed Angel every single day, and I cried for her every single day. But during the last few days, I'd especially been missing Fang. I missed his rare smile and his few words back a few months ago. It seemed he was talking more and more every day, but to tell you the truth, I liked him better as a quiet rock. Let's make it a quiet and sexy rock.

"MAX?" Iggy shouted through my thoughts. "Your food's getting cold!"

"Coming!" I said, raising my voice slightly. I doubted he'd heard me, but Angel would tell him through my thoughts that I was intending to come downstairs in just a few moments...I needed time to think.

But Angel wasn't there.

"Coming," I yelled louder, and got up with a sigh.

At that moment, there was a knock at my door. It opened ever so slightly, revealing none other than the great Dylan, my "second half". His blonde hair was cut short, and he was wearing a polo shirt and khaki shorts.

"Come on, Max," he crooned. "Let's go downstairs. I'll help you."

"No, that's okay," I said uncomfortably. "You just go back down, and I'll be right there." In a matter of weeks, any warmth between Dylan and me had decreased into a tiny ball of nothingness. "You go," I urged, when I saw that he was hesitating.

"But won't you need help getting downstairs? I mean, you can barely walk because of Fang," he told me, biting his lip.

That was the last straw. "DYLAN, WILL YOU SHUT UP?" I screamed. "JUST GO DOWNSTAIRS. I'LL. BE. THERE."

"What's going on?" Iggy appeared at the door. "Dylan, every time you're near her, something bad happens. Why don't you just leave her alone?"

I squirmed. "Listen to Iggy," I pleaded, feeling exhausted.

"Fine," he snapped, turned on his heel, and stomped downstairs. Iggy walked over and sat next to me; I was curled up at the headboard.

"You okay? I can bring your dinner up here, if you want," he offered quietly.

"Nah," I said lethargically. "Actually, could you do that for me? That would be nice..."

Unexpectedly, he reached over and hugged me. I clung to him for a few moments, and then let go. "You'll feel better," he assured me. "Just give it some time. I bet Angel's not really dead. She's just...lost, somewhere, where she can't find her way back."

I shook my head. "I don't think so, Ig. I think I've lost two people in a year."

"Three," he replied sadly.

"What are you talking about?"

"I've lost Ella."

**Yes, no? Continue, don't continue? I'll know through reviews, thanks!**

**:) Awk**


	2. Hopelessness

**Gaww, you guys are so cute. o3o Thanks for favoriting and alerting my story!**

**Thanks bunches for the reviews, and they were so sweet, too. Yes, I'll definitely continue!**

_2._

The days passed, and I found myself looking out the window more and more often. Thoughts of Fang and Angel and sometimes Ella wrestled with each other, and I was surprised to notice that Fang always won. Recently, it was him I'd cry more about as I lay in bed, thinking about our deteriorating relationship. I'd seen more videos that one of the girls in his flock, Star, had taken and posted on his blog - it seemed like he was back to his original self. He didn't talk much at all, he just sat there and offered one or two words if he was up to it. It almost seemed like he was sad, too, but why would he be sad?

He had his new girlfriend Max 2 to keep him company.

It was officially on his blog the day before; he was dating Maya, and I had a feeling that he wasn't the one who'd asked her out. There were already thousands of comments of disapproval and hatred towards them on the link, and I read them with some satisfaction. Either way, the news made me scream and actually tear some of my hair out. Of course, Dylan, my perfect other half, rushed into the room in hopes of making out with me.

"OH MY GOD," he shouted. "HOW COULD FANG DO THIS TO YOU? What a terrible ex-boyfriend! That's why you need someone like _me_, someone who can actually _stay _with you and not leave you for...your _clone_? I mean, what a - "

This outburst gave me a chance to do something I'd been wanting to do for days, for months.

_SMASH. _The sweet sound of Dylan's head smashing against the wall, along with his bloodcurdling scream, gave me one bit of cruel pleasure in the midst of all the sorrow. By now, all remembrances of our make-out session in Paris was gone. The old Max was back.

"That'll teach you to talk any shit against Fang," I snarled. I didn't even know why I was defending my stupid ex who already had a new girlfriend who was my CLONE, but really anything that would annoy Dylan would work for me.

"M-m-max, forgive me!" he muttered sarcastically, humphing and walking out the door with his head held high. I don't even know how he was not able to look at the floor after the racket he had caused.

After he left my room, waves of pain attacked me constantly. Through tears, I managed to get through the day without releasing any of my angst to the rest of the flock. Nudge asked me multiple times if something was wrong, and I covered up my sadness with the biggest smile I could manage.

"I'm fine!" I'd state brightly, and I could tell she doubted it but she just shrugged and went back to work. Gazzy made me finish a jigsaw puzzle with him after lunch, and the puzzle, once completed, was a picture of the flock. Him, me, Iggy, Nudge...Angel...and Fang. The sight brought me to tears and I could tell Gazzy got scared - I hadn't cried even once in front of the younger kids for months.

"Are you okay, Max?" he asked in a small, frightened voice, and that only made me cry harder. Finally, I patted my lap and Gazzy sat down on me with a thud. "Don't you think I'm too big for this now?" he asked worriedly, casting a glance around him to make sure no one was watching.

I laughed, wiping away salty tears. "Don't worry, Gaz," I told him affectionately. "We all know you're growing up, but, you know, it's okay to be a baby sometimes."

"Like you're being right now?"

"Like I'm being right now." This made us both laugh, and I sent him upstairs to Iggy feeling better than before.

But when I looked back at the puzzle, the hole in my heart widened and I could only look at the laughing figures of myself and my five favorite people in the world. My voice caught at my throat and I had to blink back tears and the frightening thought that things would never again be the way they had been for so long.

-asterisks-

That night, I dreamed about my mom. I dreamed that we were in my room, sitting on the bed together. We cried and hugged, but when I asked her where she was, she wouldn't tell me. Unfortunately, the only thing we had time to talk about was quite an unpleasant subject to me.

_"I hate him," I said gruffly._

_"No, you don't," my mother argued._

_"Yes, I do. I definitely hate that loser. He can go die in a hole and take that stupid clone with him."_

_"Max, I'm your mother, I can tell. You're still in love with him. You're heartbroken."_

_I scowled. "Your point?"_

_"I'm just saying, don't spend your whole life poring over how awful it is that you're not together!"_

_I didn't say anything - just kept sullenly staring at the wall in front of me._

_"Max," Mom sighed. "I know you still love him. But please, put it aside for a while. Think about the bigger things that are ahead of you!"_

_"I'm NOT poring over him! I've forgotten about him, I told you!" I insisted._

_"I don't know if anyone else has noticed," she said softly, "But I definitely have. It's not even the tears you cry for Angel - I recognize those. It's just the unnatural silence you didn't possess until a few weeks ago. I know you're thinking about him, and I know I'm not wrong."_

_My bottom lip trembled, and I got up and left the room before I could burst into tears in front of my mom - my mom who knew everything._

_**I would absolutely lurve reviews!**_

**As a birthday present? :D That would be amazing! -Awk**


	3. In Ruins

**Eep! I made a mistake in the last one; wait, is Dr. Martinez even _there _at the end of Angel? Oops...bahah thanks for telling me, Alexis Taylor!**

**Anyways, thanks for the reviews, alerting, & favoriting - I really appreciate it! The more reviews I get, the quicker I'll update! Here's Chapter 3.**

_3._

"I'm learning a new song," Dylan announced, walking in to the TV room where the rest of us were having coffee.

Everyone ignored him, but I suddenly became genuinely curious. "What song?" I asked him. The only thing I really kept Dylan around for was...his voice. His voice could even stop a rabid squirrel in its tracks, and I secretly liked listening to it at times.

"Want me to sing it?" he asked.

"Yeah!" Nudge exclaimed, and sat up attentively. Everyone else continued to ignore him and watch _Grey's Anatomy_.

He took a deep breath, and cleared his throat.

"IT'S FRIDAY, FRIDAY, GOTTA GET DOWN ON FRIIDAAAY - "

"NO! NOT THAT SONG," I groaned, clenching my teeth and covering my ears. Even a voice like Dylan's couldn't fix the lyrics or the disgustingness of my new most-hated song. Nudge was about to barf, and Iggy looked like he was about to cry.

"Don't sing that, _please_, just sing_ anything _else," he begged Dylan.

"Um, I can sing whatever I want," he said snidely, and proceeded to sing the rest of the song. I shuddered and walked out of the room. Day by day, my life was getting even worse. The only time I could escape depression was an hour of _Grey's Anatomy_ and coffee every day with my flock. Minus Angel and Fang. Now even that was put in jeopardy because of Dylan's worsening song choice. I think it was definitely time to kick him out.

"I need to go fly," I told Nudge, who came into the kitchen to bring out a tray of cookies. "Can you tell everyone else I'll be back in an hour?"

"Yeah," she said, nodding, and went back to the living room. I took a deep breath, cleared my head, and walked out the door. I hadn't flown for over a month, and I really needed a stretch of wings. The feathery objects were cramped under my jacket, and I needed to let them out.

Now that we were living in our old house on the tree again, I felt like things had gone halfway back to the way they used to be. Sighing, I unfurled my wings. It felt like I was climbing out of a tomb after a hundred years of burial; it made me so happy, I let out a shout of happiness. I leaped into the air and stretched them out, soaring through the air. I closed my eyes and shivered with pleasure as the wind blew my hair away from my face.

I was so elated, I flew all the way up to the cave where...Fang had given us extra flying lessons. I landed at the mouth of the cave, walking inside slowly. As if it had happened yesterday, _everything _that had happened inside this cave suddenly flew back to my memory, and overwhelmed me. I dropped to my knees as I remembered the kiss Fang and I had shared in here. I walked over to the hole, originally used as a firepit, and sat down exactly where we'd been sitting. Tears started gathering in my eyes, and I rubbed them to get rid of the moisture.

There was no way Max Martinez would cry about someone who didn't care about her.

Just five minutes in the cave was enough - I couldn't stand it anymore. I got up, walked over to the edge, and flew to a nearby tree, seating myself on the top branch. It was located in a small forest right next to the cave, and I decided that this was the perfect place to mourn in peace. I couldn't really see anything except for the tops of other trees, but I couldn't mistake the presence of something else nearby.

I squatted on the branch and slowly leaned forward, trying not to lose my balance.

In fact, I was correct; there was a figure, crouched down, maybe sitting on the ground at the base of the tree. I could tell it was a boy because of his muscular arms, and style of hair, although his hair was slightly longer than usual. As I squinted, I noticed the blackness of his hair, and the dark color of his clothing. I noticed black leather jacket that he wore, which I knew was covering up something. I nearly choked, because I would recognize this boy anywhere.

Fang.

**Sooo? How was it? You like cliffy or you no like cliffy?**

**Bahaha I'll know through reviews! Thankies! ~Awk**


	4. Melodies

**Daww, you guys are so cute. Thanks so much for the amazing reviews! And thanks for alerting/favoriting! Sorry for the long wait, but here's the next chapter.**

**Btdubs I just realized that Dr. Martinez was indeed NOT there, so I went back and fixed it! ^^ Haha sorry about that, but you can go back and read it now! Yay!**

It took me a while to process the information in my head. Fang, my ex-boyfriend, the douchebag who was now dating my clone, the boy I was still hopelessly in love with, was sitting doing God-knows-what under the exact tree I was perched on. Maybe he was making out with Max II - I just couldn't see her.

I leaned forward a bit more, trying to peek at what Fang was doing. He was directly below me, and all I could see of him was his hair, his arms, and his legs. He seemed to be looking at the ground. Maybe he was brooding over his loss. Maybe he'd never understood how great I could have made his life.

Suddenly, my head went blank. The same searing pain that I used to feel a couple years ago attacked my head in an instant. My vision went black, and I could hardly breathe. I tried to spread my wings as I lost my balance and fell off the branch, but I was unable to do anything except clutch my head and squeeze my eyes shut, trying not to think about the forty foot fall and death just up ahead.

"_Max_?" Ugh, that voice was all too familiar. I couldn't believe that this was the last thing I'd have to hear before I died. I was hoping for something more like a Chopin Nocturne, but I guess the voice I heard was as sweet as any melody I'd ever wanted.

No, Maximum Ride wasn't the type of girl who would die so easily. She could face death and still win. I felt myself falling faster and faster and finally I came in contact with - a person? Strong arms encircled me and was holding me in place. My head was still spinning and the pain was not completely gone, but my subconscious knew I wasn't dead. Maximum Ride had survived the fall.

And Fang was the one who'd saved her life.

_Pathetic_, was my first conscious thought. _How could I get saved by my ex? The one who didn't even care for me anymore? The one who could publicly announce that he was dating my clone, knowing that I probably read his blog every single day because I missed him?_

_How could I have looked so stupid, losing my balance and not being able to fly back into the air? I must have looked horrendous! I must have looked like I was spying on him, I must have looked like I was desperate to come back to him! Oh no, Maximum Ride is never desperate for her ex. She's single and still standing strong.  
><em>

"Max? Are you okay?" Oh, his voice rang like chimes in my ears. I was unable to answer, but I concealed my love for him with a look of hatred. (At least, how much hatred I could possibly get through with the intense pain in my head.)

"Let me go, Fang. You should have let me die." I wanted to stay right there in his arms forever. "I know you're better off without me. So let me be." Struggling and clutching my head, I took a deep breath, shuddered, and pushed myself out of his arms. I turned around once to look him in the face. It was blank as usual, but his eyes showed sadness. _Sadness_. Just like I was feeling because of him.

"Is your head hurting?" he asked softly, ignoring my illogical statements.

"No," I snapped. "I'm just fine. And why would you care, anyway? Why don't you go look after my clone instead of me? You _are _going out with her, anyway."

I knew I'd hit him. He bit his lip and struggled to say something, but we both knew he wouldn't be able to get anything out of his mouth. He'd gone back to his old self - quiet, and holding in every feeling possible to hold inside.

Finally, he sighed. "Max, I just want to know if you're okay. We can talk about this later."

"Really? Have you ever even called me after you left? As if we're ever going to talk again after I leave right now," I smirked. "I'm off." I turned around, my hair whipping in the wind, my eyes filling with tears, and started walking off when I heard him speak again.

"Wait."

I managed a watery smile. I didn't look at him, but I felt a pleasure deep inside. He still wanted me. At least, he still wanted to _talk _to me, and that was a first. He'd claimed that he'd still loved me the whole time before, but I never really did believe him. His recent blog posts didn't help with my trust, either.

"Max, come back. I want to talk to you."

I wiped the slight smile off my face and was able to pull off the perfect scowl as I swung around to glare at him. "Well, hurry up. I need to go back to my flock."

"I just want things to go back to the way they used to," he said quietly, his head hung. He felt bad. He felt like this was all his fault.

My lip trembled, and the last thing I wanted to do in front of him was cry. I managed a whispered "Me too," and flew back off into the sky. After I was high enough, among the clouds, I watched his tiny figure on the ground. He sat back down, wrapped his arms around his knees, and looked up into the sky.

**Sooo? How was it? Don't worry, Fax will come. It will just take time - it will take a while for Max to overcome her anger. And sadness. And every other issue that she has. It'll also take some time for Fang to do that, too. *sigh***

**All right, reviews will be loved! Please do! -Awk  
><strong>


End file.
